Red Steps
by cicen
Summary: A twenty-five year old woman dies and is reincarnated in the body of Sayu Yagami, with her previous memories intact. She gets caught in the middle of a wildfire. Features Sayu with a backbone.
1. Rebirth

An experimental story, a twenty-five year old woman dies and is reincarnated in the body of Sayu Yagami, with her previous memories intact. She gets caught in the middle of a wildfire. I make no promises to finish this but I will try my best. No beta-readers or a second sweep to check grammar/spelling. I should really do that. Features Sayu with a back bone. Constructive criticism is appreciated, so please take the time to read.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note.

* * *

I died from a motorcycle accident.

No, I didn't get hit by a truck.

It happened between 1 to 2 o'clock in the morning, right after work. Just a little background, I work for the film industry—I was part of the production crew, unfortunately. I work with the lighting because I was planning on becoming a cinematographer one day. But I died, so now I don't even know what to say to that dream anymore. Now considering how the movie was going to be medieval, the setting was by the mountains. We booked a few nights at a nearby hotel, took our vans to the shooting location, set up our equipment, and proceeded to rehearse and film. It was rather late when we finished, so I decided to leave the clean-up job to the rest of the crew. Besides, I was only in charge of the lights.

I grabbed my helmet, zipped up my jacket, and started my motorcycle. Anyone can already guess what was about to happen to me.

The road was newly cemented and it didn't have any street lights. I suppose that was to be expected; we were on a mountain after all. I didn't know when I was going to take the left turn. I should have figured it was the wrong way when I saw how the road was slowly turning into a dirt trail. And since I couldn't tell what was what, I was only a few feet from running over a flock of sheep. I didn't bother hitting the brakes, so I skidded to my right, and you know the rest. There were no railings to stop me, but even if there were, I would still be falling. It wasn't like the cartoon type of fall where I was at the edge of a cliff. It was more like mountain slope of a sort, only it had rocks and stray trees everywhere.

I tumbled down, feeling the sharp rocks tearing off my mesh jacket as it dug to my skin, and the weak branches littered all over the ground being snapped in half. I tried grabbing a fist full of grass but it was only ripped off from the ground. All I could do was think, 'What will happen to my family? Who will look after Caramel, my cat?' Funny how it felt ten minutes when in reality it could have been just a few seconds. I stopped as soon as my head bashed onto a convenient, rough boulder. It was a pathetic and bloody way to die. I don't really know if this was better than dying slowly and excruciatingly on a hospital bed. There was a sharp, agonizing pain at the back of my head as I felt my body slip down to the ground. I couldn't think properly other than, 'it hurts f-fuck my head I'm **bleeding** it hurts it _hurts_ _hurts_ fuck _no no please no I don't want to die_'. I couldn't bring myself to think of anything else.

Several minutes passed. How long I was there? It hurt every time I moved.

I struggled to keep myself awake. Eventually, I decided not to fret much. I knew I was going to die. It was dark, and the wind brushed against my cheeks. The trees rustled, and I felt at peace. … _Maybe this isn't so bad,_ I thought as I loosened my grip on the soft, green grass.

I didn't know when I closed my eyes but the next thing I remembered was something pulling me out from the darkness.

* * *

It was the 18th of June. Back then, I didn't know the date but I could vividly recall three things: a blur of moving shapes, a repulsive stench, and the sound of a foreign language. Someone, some_thing_ held me up and I tried to wiggle out of its grasp. I was naked. For a short, awful moment, I thought the impossible: I was abducted by enormous aliens. As funny as that sound, I was scared shitless and I didn't know what to do—they were strong; no matter how much I tried to kick them, they wouldn't budge. I tried to speak to them, something along the lines of-"What are you doing?" but all I heard was garble. _What is happening to me - _I grabbed onto something (Arms, maybe? My eyes were still adjusting to the lights), and then I stopped. Oh god, _oh god—my hands are tiny. _Oh no_ no-_

I did what I could do at this type of situation. I cried in confusion.

I didn't want to believe it. I absolutely refuse to accept the fact that I was an infant. I whimpered pathetically as they took a white cloth and swiftly wrapped it over my small frame. I was moved to the side of a rectangular white blur, which I presumed to be the hospital bed. Someone grabbed hold of me, though this time it wasn't as professional as a doctor's hold. It was gentle and caring. _This must be the mother,_ I thought, feeling a little calmer when she whispered a soft, foreign language into my ear. She dried my tears away, and swayed me lightly. I strained my ears to hear what they were saying. It definitely wasn't English.

"_What will be her name?" _someone asked. Judging from the voice, it was a man.

"… _Sayu, Yagami Sayu,"_ the mother replied, sounding pleased by her choice of name.

I had no clue what they were actually saying, of course but it was enough for me to know that it definitely wasn't German, Spanish, or French. It sounded like a language from Asia. Maybe Korean or Japanese, I don't know. I've been to Chinatown once or twice; just enough to know the sound of the Chinese language. Either way, I was just glad they were human. As she slowed her swaying pace, I slowly succumbed to sleep; God knows how much I needed one right now.

There were so many things running in my head, but one thing was for certain: I couldn't deny what's in front of me.

I was reincarnated. What a surprise; it was definitely not what I had in mind when I was in the brink of death. I wasn't a religious person, my (real) parents were, but I was the type of person who would automatically assume that there was nothing after death. It was weird. Everything looked so big, and I was so tiny. Only minutes ago (or it could have been hours; hard to say), I had my bloodied head slumped on the grass, admiring nature. And now I'm half-way across the world, born in a new family with no knowledge of their local language.

Several weeks passed, and I began to discover things about my new life. Apparently, I was given the name 'Sayu'. It didn't take too long for me to find out seeing as how they kept on cooing that name whenever they walked over to the crib. I also couldn't form any coherent words, nor could I move to stand or walk—believe me, I tried. But the best I could do was flip over my stomach and crawl around the crib for exercise. I also learned that I lived in Japan with a brother three years older than me, a mother who stays at home, and a working father; a typical patriarchal family.

Reincarnation was a lot more complicated than I thought. Although it didn't occur to me just how complicated it was until later on, I did find out that I was born back in 1989. I assumed that if we were reincarnated, we'd be born on the year we died. But I guess I was wrong. It did make me wonder if somewhere on the other side of Earth; I was living my first life. Turns out I was wrong with that assumption too. How wrong, I don't even know where to begin.

During the next few months, my new parents found out that I picked up a lot quicker than 'normal' children. This had nothing to do with being a prodigy, but the fact that I still had a working, adult mind. My motor skills took a while to develop, but that was quickly solved when they decided to bring out the play pen. My surroundings were a lot bigger than the crib, so I got to crawl around. I could stand up for a minute or two without holding onto the railings before I fell on the soft carpet. Teething was the annoying part, but I don't want to recount my dreadful days of being an infant. Only this: used diapers, food goo, and milk. Enough said.

However, there was that one day that stood out from all the rest. You know how you'd sometimes remember snippets of your early childhood years? To me, this was one of them.

The day I realised something was wrong was the day I found out the name of my brother.

I know it's a little weird to say that but this was how it happened. I was practicing on getting my mouth to speak at least one English word—Caramel, to be exact (how I miss that furball). It only slurred into another incoherent word, "kaahhwamue" or something like that. It was annoying, but one thing I got to learn from all of this was patience. My brother walked up to the play pen with his short stubby legs and stretched out his arm. I took hold of his finger instinctively.

He spoke short, but fluent sentences—he was doing pretty well for a 4 year old, if you ask me. He pointed at his ridiculously red backpack, and tried to carry me out of the pen. I could hear someone calling out "Raito", by the hallway. It didn't bother me at first, since I was too amused at the fact that he was trying to bring me to his school. Another "Raito?", which prompted him to quicken his pace. He looked worriedly over me then to the hallway, and shouted back, _"In a minute!"_

And with that, my brother successfully got me out of the play pen with two huffs. He wrapped his arms around my waist and trotted down the hallway. I admit it _was_ adorable. Mom's face instantly looked panic-struck when she saw the both of us moving towards her. She frantically took me out of his grasp, _"Yagami Light, I told you, you can't bring your sister to school! We're going to be late!" _

"_But mama—" _

"_Come on, you go with your father to the car. He'll drop you off to your school, dear."_

"_Bye bye, Sayuu,"_ he murmured to me-or at least, that was I assumed he said. I don't know; I was too busy reeling over that last sentence!

Did she just say Yagami Light? Yagami…- _Holy shit._

My _name_ is Sayu Yagami.

No. _No, don't think too much! _This could be a coincidence, a terrifying coincidence. As much as I want to go over to and check the Internet for answers, I don't think they'd be too thrilled to see their 8 month old daughter going over her father's laptop to check on Google regarding the existence of L. Would he appear on Google though? I panicked. I probably looked like I was close to crying by the way mom was moving around to see if anything was wrong. _"Ssh, ssh… It's okay Sayu. Light will be back later this afternoon, okay?" _She turned to her husband, with an eye-crinkling smile,_ "Soichirou, it seems your daughter's going to miss her big brother!" _

Soichirou—Oh shit, no, Yagami Shoichirou, what was even going on?! Unaware of my inner dilemma, Shoichirou returned the smile and went over to kiss the side of my head. I could feel the bristle of his moustache. At the corner of my eye, I saw Light's delighted expression. "_Big brother will be back, Sayu!"_ He chirped. Soichirou walked down the steps with his hand on Light's small shoulder. I've been too preoccupied in developing my body, I didn't bother remembering their names. Now that I thought about it, mom's name was Sachiko. Sachiko Yagami.

It's been nearly seven years since I've been a fan of the series. I was young back then; I wanted to work as an animator of some sort, Japanese animation at first, then I wanted to try my hand at Pixar. Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly gifted in terms of drawing but one thing I excelled at was photography. The art of painting light; and that was why I yearned for the position of becoming a cinematographer. But that wasn't important right now. I had a _megalomaniac_ killer as a brother. Granted, he wasn't one right now—he's far too young, but that's not the point! I was now living in a world where death gods lurked around, killing either for duty, fun, or boredom! Years from now, I'd be witnessing the long battle between L and Kira. And _I_ was going to be kidnapped by the mafia. No fucking way I'm going through that shit.

Suddenly, I felt really scared, anxious, and confused like the day I was born all over again.

And so without even thinking, I said my first word.

It wasn't mama, it wasn't papa, it wasn't caramel, and as much I wanted it to be- it wasn't food.

"Light?!" I shrieked. Although with my infant body, it sounded more like a squeal. And it didn't sound like, "Raito" either. I said it in my clipped, English accent. I was lucky no one noticed. Instead, they seemed absolutely overjoyed I said my first word. Light looked very smug that his name was my first word. Four years old or not, I'd really like the wipe that annoying smile off his face. It wasn't funny.

I was reincarnated in the world of Death Note, and that wasn't something to be happy about.

* * *

Ridiculously fast-paced. I'm still wondering if I should make her find the death note first and burn it, or just let the story play out.


	2. Reality

The story will play out, as the reviewers requested. But Sayu will definitely want to burn the book so I'll see to it that she doesn't. Criticism and reviews are appreciated so we can all work together to make this a good story.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note. But I do own the fictional kindergarten, and its occupants.

* * *

Needless to say, after the whole 'Light is my first-word' incident, mom thought it was best if I get started with my language lessons. Learning Japanese was harder than I thought. I knew in my previous life there were several different characters in kanji, but that's definitely an understatement. The only thing I could do was recognize the kanji of my new last name, Yagami. While Light was at kindergarten, and dad at work, I was taught how to trace simple hiragana.

It didn't take too long for me to remember since it had less strokes. I practiced day in and day out, memorizing second-hand picture cards of everyday things and animals. When mom went to the kitchen to fix some lunch, sometimes I'd allow myself to browse through the channels to fix up my pronunciations and learn new words.

There weren't any laptops or computers around and even if there were, I doubt there was a Rosetta Stone I could borrow. The family was well-to-do so we had a television set at the living room; a new model too. Unless dad gets a promotion from work (which might take a while), I doubt we'd get anything other than the television, and the VHS reader. But maybe we'll get a dvd player in a few years (the whole 'these-things-haven't-been-invented-yet' thing is so surreal, I swear).

I wasn't fluent enough to watch the news, but I could understand morning shows for children just fine. It's been two years since I died and came back to life. Sometimes, I'd get homesick. I would surf channels to find an English program, and when I do, I'd leave the telly on with the volume low. I didn't watch it though; I was perfectly fine hearing the newscasters speak. Later on, mom would take it as a reason for my behaviour of being so adamant about the English language, and that was why I could speak with more fluency than most people around here. But the truth is I just didn't want to forget my native tongue.

In Japan, kindergarten usually accepted children at the age of 3-4. I only had a year left before I was allowed to go outside and mingle with other people. I didn't understand why they didn't let Light go to school at a young age. Anyone could tell he was doing a damn good job for a toddler. It would have scared me to think that a 5 year old would be that mature, but the thought was quickly discarded when I found out how haughty he looked when he came home to show his perfect test papers to mom, and his shaky, albeit endearing crayoned artworks of the whole family, and his dream job.

He drew himself as a cop. Imagine that. Just like his father.

Soichirou sure knew how to drill justice through that kid's head; no wonder he was so crazy about it when he was Kira. Speaking of which, it took me a while to accept the fact that they weren't characters from a story I read long ago. A few weeks after finding out I was 'in Death Note', I sulked around thinking about the future events that would take place. Mom figured it was because I missed my older brother, and softly told me he'll be back by noon so I didn't have to worry.

But she didn't get it. She didn't know what was going to happen. Being burdened by a bunch of crucial information depressed me even more. If I thought of it realistically, it wasn't like I could run off to find the Amane residence, and warn them about their forthcoming death, or even phone Naomi Misora regarding the Los Angeles murder cases, or better yet—_join in _the Kira case.

_Like L would let a kid like me come in and help out, _I thought dejectedly.

There were so many things wrong with that picture; I would need more than my two hands to count the reasons why _that_ wouldn't work. I was blind, pessimistic, and before I knew it, I turned my Japanese lessons into a temporary escape.

* * *

It was raining.

Water pelted down the mountains, dripping onto ever blade of grass. Beyond the trees were shrouded with mist. It was unclear what was beyond the forest. The sky was grey, and the time was late in the afternoon. Amidst the downpour stood a man; an impeccably-dressed man. He wore a tailored suit, along with a black cane, and finely-polished dress shoes.

"Dreadful," A mutter escaped from his pale lips, "Simply dreadful."

The man ignored the soft snap of a twig as he lumbered down the slope. Really, accidents were always a mess every time he came by. Taking a look at his rusty pocket watch, he stood leisurely in front of the boulder caked in blood. His dark eyes darted around, surveying every inch of the scene before him. Odd, he thought.

There was not a soul in sight.

* * *

"Did you make sure to zip up your bag?"

"Yes," I replied dutifully. I still couldn't believe that they would actually let me go to school at such a young age. Maybe all my studying paid off? Unexpectedly, Light was quite proud of me when he heard that I got into kindergarten at an earlier age. Now instead of accompanying dad to work, he was old enough to bring me to my school every day.

"You ready, Sayu?" Light asked from the doorway. I nodded at him, and we both gave the customary "We're leaving", which was promptly followed by a "Take care!" from mom. Light took hold of my hand, like a responsible big brother that he is. I would have called him perfect if it weren't for the fact that I've seen him wipe his snot on his pants right before grabbing a cookie a few years back. Ah, the joys of childhood.

"Nervous?" He asked, lightly squeezing my hand.

I shrugged, too troublesome to give a proper reply. I wasn't bothered at all since I was a grown woman on the inside. It did feel a little awkward going back to school though. I guess I should have acted nervous. It was my 'first time' to meet children of my age. "What are you so quiet about? You finally get to go to school with your big brother!" A teasing smile was visible on Light's lips.

… Why does everyone in the family think I have a big brother complex?

"No. I'm just sad 'cause I'm gonna miss my morning shows," I grunted. My Japanese was rough, but at least it was understandable.

Light laughed in reply, "I heard watching too much tv can strain your eyes."

_Yes, but I only leave it on so that I could practice my Japanese,_ but I didn't voice it out. He stopped to look both ways before crossing the road. He pulled me close as we scurried to the other side. I readjusted my yellow cap with one hand and held onto Light's old, red backpack. I wondered idly if I would be getting a lot of his old school materials.

Light started attending Elementary school weeks ago. He was slowly beginning to be very popular, and he _still_ had perfect test scores. I wouldn't have been shocked if they gave him the role of class president the minute he walked through the door. It was weird to see a young kid like him study so hard instead of playing with a Gameboy (now _those_ were the days).

He did bring friends over, but mostly to help them with their studies. I'd sometimes pop in for a visit to see what sort of homework they were doing. In the middle of a math problem, the topics would change to the latest Pokemon game, or their favourite super sentai. Light would always stay quiet with that phony smile of his. Now that I think about it, did Light have any toys?

The only time he would go out and play was when he'd accompany me to the playground. I admit it was really fun to play like a child again. We'd usually be by the swing set. He'd push me, while in return, I try to push him back. Whenever I failed he'd laugh, and I'd angrily punch his arm with my weak little fists, and then he'd choke out another laugh. Then we'd get crepes, and sit by the jungle gym 'til it was time to go home.

When we reached the kindergarten school, I raised my eyebrows slightly.

Some of the kids were crying, a few stood quietly by the corner, while others were already socialising. I could see a lot of mothers, and an occasional father or two—but I think Light was the only kid there to bring me to school.

There were two young women wearing aprons with the name of the school stitched to the upper left pocket. _They must be the teachers,_ I mused. I was proved right when they recognized Light. "Ms. Ito! Ms. Akiyama! " He called, waving at them. I'm pretty sure they were smitten by that smile of his. "Oh, Light! It's so nice to see you again!" The one with the short hair asked, "Are you here to drop off your sister?"

Obviously. "Her name's Sayu," I gave an awkward wave.

"It's her first time talking to people outside of the family so please excuse her if she's shy." Light said fondly.

"She's so cute!" The girl with long hair gushed, and crouched down to be on my line of view. "My name's Akiyama Nao! Nice to meet you," she cooed. I couldn't help but stagger back in surprise. I quickly turned to Light so he could speak up but all I got was an amused smile.

"… Nice to meet you too," I replied, although it sounded more like a question.

The short-haired girl, who I assumed to be 'Ito' decided to leave first to gather the students together. Light looked at me, "Mom will be picking you up later, okay?" I nodded. "Remember to have fun… and be good!" He added. I nodded again, and gave a curt goodbye.

Light kept looking back at me every time he walked a few steps to the main gate. Maybe he thought I was going to cry. I glanced at the retreating parents, although some lingered for a cuddle. Comprehension flickered over my eyes.

I ran up to him and hugged his waist (I was too small to reach his neck). Light stiffened slightly, unused to my sudden display of affection. He returned my embrace, and placed his chin on my head. As I released Light to let him to speak, he gave me one last advice. "Don't scare off everyone with that frown of yours! Remember to smile." As if on cue, I gave him a proper grin. He laughed, taking off my cap to muss up my hair.

As he left the school gates, I could tell he was secretly happy. Sheesh, maybe I should hug the kid more.

In my previous life, I wasn't the type to frown so often. I worked for the film industry. People were bold, and confident. You weren't going to get anywhere if you were a wallflower. Socializing was used to get connections; something essential to all media personnel. Maybe it was the thought of being reincarnated so suddenly, or being in a world such as 'Death Note' that's been getting me down. Along with the fact that I never got to be a cinematographer, and I never lived long enough to see the end of that new medieval movie we were filming…

… Maybe I should make some long-term goals in this life. The first one would be to live until I'm old. Two. I'd still like to be a cinematographer. I took my masters- there is _no way_ I'm wasting all those years of hard work. Three, somehow stop the whole death note fiasco.

And maybe get a cat. I miss Caramel so much.

Well, I have yet to come up with a plan, but at least I have ten years to think it through.

* * *

I think I could have done a lot more productive things at home rather than what I just did at Kindergarten. First, we had to do this ridiculous morning dance, and then half of our period was wasted on playing! I think the only productive thing we did was lunch, and maybe even nap time. It turns out I was a lot more advanced than most of the kids around. Some were still struggling through picture books, and animal cards. There were a few who have done their fair share of studying at home so they were free to play outside at the sandbox.

It was also hard to have a decent conversation with a toddler. They can never stay in one place too long, and their attention span is just ghastly. There were other toddlers who were very shy, and they would either choose to stick with one of the teachers or sit in a corner and read. I used my time checking the whole classroom out. The walls were littered with scotch-taped artworks, and there was a meter stick by the door to measure our heights. Cubby holes were lined up to store all our school materials and extra clothes. I went over to the library shelf and skimmed through the titles. Just basic hiragana children books, no English books. I guess I really have to go and find a book store that sells one.

"If you wanna play with us, then you hafta be the dog!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see a fuss by the sliding doors—three kids ganging up on someone. Scrunching up my yellow cap, I ran a hand through my hair. Kids these days. I walked over to the other side and stopped a few feet from them. There was already a gathering crowd, so I decided to ask the person next to me. "…What's happening?" And where the heck were the teachers?

"Eh, they were playing house. That kid over there wanted to join in but they didn't have any roles left other than dog."

"That's pretty degrading." I muttered in English. "They should have just made her a daughter or something."

A snort, "I know right?"

I blinked, _(Did he just understand me?)_ and looked at my classmate.

He was quite lanky for a toddler. He was sipping on an apple juice box, possibly the cause of that small stain on his shirt. Golden-rimmed glasses were perched on his nose bridge, seemingly too big for face. His honey brown locks were a shade brighter than Light's. I squinted at the name tag on his shirt. It was in Kanji, but there was hiragana under it. Tsukuda Yasuhiro, it said.

Yasuhiro seemed deeply focused on the commotion. I brought my gaze back to the fight, and saw some boy defending the victimized girl. "Leave her alone!" The boy shouted, his fists were clenched in anger.

I could see a spark of recognition in the girl's eyes, "Takeshi?" she mumbled in a daze. They were probably friends even before Kindergarten. The bullies didn't take it too lightly though. "You're not even part of this!" One of the three yelled, as he pushed 'Takeshi' backwards.

"What is going on here?" A voice from the doorway demanded. I turned to the newcomer; it was one of the teachers, Ms. Ito. She was holding one of the 2 year old infants that were part of the school's babysitting programme. Ms. Ito rushed towards Takeshi to see if there were any injuries. The little girl next to him was already close to crying.

"Nothing! Takeshi wasn't playing fair!" said the same boy who had pushed him.

I made an odd noise at the back of my throat from sheer disbelief. It was such a _blatant_ _lie_. None of the kids were backing Takeshi up other than the little girl, but she was already incoherently babbling through her tears. "Actually, he," I pointed at the boy who pushed Takeshi, "pushed Takeshi because he was defending her." I pointed to the little girl.

Ms. Ito blinked, and looked at the gaping culprit, "Is that true, Nobu?"

"N-No-!"

"I can vouch for her," Yasuhiro raised his hand. "Sayu's telling the truth." I could hear a bit of agreement behind me.

"You're 5 years old, Nobu. You should be a good role model to your friends!" As Ms. Ito took Nobu him and his two friends outside for a lecture, the little girl murmured her thank you, and added a band-aid on Takeshi's knee. I really doubt he scraped his knees from the fall but I didn't bother voicing it out and just dismissed it as children being silly.

Yasuhiro thought otherwise. "You do know that he fell backwards. His knees are fine."

The little girl blushed in embarrassment. Takeshi glared at the gangly kid next to me, "Don't talk to her that way!"

"I'm just sayin'," Yasuhiro shrugged, taking another long sip of apple juice. First day of Kindergarten and there was already so much drama. The crowd began to disperse as Ms. Akiyama announced lunch time. Yasuhiro and I were the only ones left by the sliding doors.

"So…" I started. There was a short pause before he turned his head to me. I couldn't see his eyes behind his glasses with the light reflecting on its surface. "Yagami Sayu, nice to meet'cha." I unconsciously stretched out a hand instead of giving a bow.

He stared at it before finally taking my hand to give a firm handshake, "Tsukuda Yasuhiro. Likewise."

We both nodded curtly.

I could already tell it was a start of an odd friendship.

* * *

"So, Sayu! How was your first day at kindergarten?" mom inquired that night at the dinner table. She absentmindedly passed the tonkatsu to Light as she waited for my reply. I swallowed my rice before answering, "Good. I made a friend-his name's Yasu."

"Is that so?" she pondered, "Was he the boy with the glasses…?"

"Yeah, that's him." I confirmed. "He helped me when one of the boys was being mean to this girl." Mom worriedly looked at dad-who in return scrunched his eyebrows together. He looked like he wanted to say something but Light was quick to ask, "What happened?"

"At such a young age…" mom brought a hand on her cheek, mumbling to herself.

I swung my legs, mostly because it felt so odd to have my feet not touch the ground. I further elaborated on the matter, "A group of kids were being mean to this girl, but then this boy named Takeshi came in and told them 'Leave her alone!'. And then one of the kids pushed him and he fell." I really wished I had a bigger vocabulary. Maybe I should borrow Light's Japanese to English dictionary if he ever gets one.

"And then Ms. Ito came and I told her what really happened," I continued, "And then Yasu vouched for me so it's all good," I gulped down my water and wiped my mouth. Light raised his eyebrow, a smile creeping up on his face. "You didn't hit the bully?"

I shook my head, and slowly replied. "Hitting is bad, it wouldn't help anyone if I did that."

Dad placed a hand on my head. He didn't say anything but I could tell he was pleased. The topic changed to Light's elementary school and police department work. I didn't know—my vocabulary wasn't wide enough to understand half of it.

I stabbed my pork chop with one of my chopsticks. I thought about my new family. I thought about what was yet to come and about my day at school. Everything just seemed so vivid, even my new friend.

Yasuhiro, as it turned out, really did understand English. Although his father was Japanese, he worked as an English-to-Japanese translator for many foreign books. You could imagine how delighted I was to finally have my hands on a book that could be read from left to right. Yasu was a year older than me, and he was quite the smart-ass once you get to know him. It was hard to imagine someone like him or any of my schoolmates to be part of 'Death Note', even when the main character sat right beside me.

_But he isn't the main character,_ something in me nagged.

I watched Light take a clump of rice in between his chopsticks; complimenting mom's cooking with a grin.

_This isn't Death Note._

* * *

Kindergarten, second semester.

Everyone was assigned to draw what we wanted to be when we grew up. The chairs were scattered around, but most of the toddlers wanted to use the floor. I pulled up a chair and took a seat. There were crayons, markers, and even paint brushes settled on a plastic cup. We were given three sheets just in case we wanted to have an extra. Yasuhiro was already in the middle of drawing his artwork.

"Hey, Yasu." I placed a hand on my chin,

The boy doesn't look up. "Hm?"

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?"

"A scientist." Thrusting his paper on my face, he pointed at the little kid wearing a lab coat. He seemed to be holding onto a beaker. I raised an eyebrow, "Any reason why?" He stared blankly at me, before looking back at his paper.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"You like science…?"

"Pft, that's part of it."

"Then what's the other part?"

"… I wanna make a cure for grandpa's disease."

"…Oh." I looked back at my paper, glancing at Yasu from time to time. _How was I supposed to answer that…?_ The boy in question seemed to be in deep thought. After a while, he took a purple crayon and began to colour the pants. I looked around, eyeing all the kids eagerly drawing their life's dreams. A doctor, a teacher, a housewife, a hero, a policeman—each one of them had their own ambitions and dreams. And each time I was reminded of those around me, the idea of being in the world of 'Death Note' would dissipate.

"Everyone! Are you all excited for tomorrow's trip to the zoo?" Ms. Akiyama grinned at her fellow students.

An eruption of 'Yes!' came from the kids, followed by excited chatter.

My classmates, and teachers—they were human beings, living and breathing just like me. I wasn't in some book or show. We were having a field trip at Ueno Zoo when I found out. I wasn't ashamed to admit that it was a real wake-up call. Because when I went to the zoo, I didn't see characters. I saw _people_.

People who had distinguishable features rather than shaded faces; they crowded around the entrance to fall in line, not to blend in a sea of extras. And I realized just how stupid I was. I was living a real life with real people, and my family was as real as they'd ever be.

It was quite an epiphany. To think I thought all that while I was in the middle of licking my strawberry ice cream. My light blue uniform was stained with melted drops, and my black hair clung onto my pale neck from all the sweat of running under the sweltering sun.

Yasu was blabbing about Indian elephants, and mom was taking a sip of water. I looked down at my hand. It wasn't animated. It was young and small, in contrast to my mid-twenties age. I was still scared, but for some reason I felt better. I didn't feel that alone anymore.

In fact, it just fueled my resolve. I will find a way to get my hands on the Death Note before Light did.

And when I do, I will burn it.

* * *

It was eleven in the evening. I couldn't sleep.

I slipped out of my bed, grabbing the ear of my new stuffed bunny. I dragged my feet towards the door, and went downstairs to get myself a glass of milk. The floor was cold, I noted. As soon as I caught sight of the kitchen, I walked over to the refrigerator and checked its contents. Eggs, some vegetables, plastic containers filled with left-over food from dinner, some juice—ah, there's the milk.

Taking one of the glasses from the counter, I poured myself a drink.

_tick tock tick tock_

I didn't know how long I stayed at the kitchen, absentmindedly listening to the sound of the wall clock. I clutched on to the bunny, and drank my milk. If my cat were here, he'd be able to lull me to sleep. _Maybe if I pull my grades up at elementary, they'd buy me one?_ I took another sip. As far as I know, this body of mine wasn't allergic to animal fur.

_tick tock tick tock_

I placed my empty glass of milk by the sink, and hurried back up the stairs. As I passed the wall clock, I caught a glimpse of its hands pointing to 11:23 PM. The hall was rather small, and my room was by the left. I was about to go back, but I could see a dim light streaming at the bottom of Light's bedroom door. I could vaguely hear the sound of pencil scratches. Was he still studying up until now…?

I glanced back, all of a sudden feeling a little unnerved by the dark hall. And so without thinking, I stood on my toes to open the door. I peered inside, and found Light hunched at the far side of the study table. The pen was still scratching on the paper he was writing on. Closing the door behind me, I walked up quietly. _He should really open the lights instead of using that small lamp of his,_ I thought. So this was what he'd usually do to keep up his grades?

"Light…?" I whispered behind him.

He didn't seem to hear me, but only continued writing. He muttered under his breath after starting a new line of paragraph. As I neared him, I began to notice something weird. I felt my breath hitch as my grip on his shirt slackens. My heart hammered so loudly, it reached my ears.

Before I could say anything, he stopped writing.

Seventeen year old Light inclined his head towards me, eyes drenched in red.

His lips curved into an unsettling smile, "Sayu." There was something about his voice that was both hypnotizing, and frightening. I unconsciously stumbled back as if he would strike me with his pen at any second. "I was just finishing something up," he murmured in a soft tone. My eyes darted at the notebook he was writing; names of people I haven't heard of were scrawled hastily on the pages. My blood ran cold.

He closed his notebook as he brought his calculative eyes on my face in suspicion.

"What did you see?" Light demanded, voice dropping its false sweetness.

I couldn't answer, g-god _I couldn't_

_**"What did you see?"**_ He slowly rose from his chair. The walls of his room darkened, his tall, imposing body loomed over me. An inhuman scowl was plastered on his face. His thumb dug onto his pencil in raging anger, and I could hear its frame breaking; I didn't want to wait for his reaction, but my body couldn't move. I had to run-

Run!

-_Run! _

I scampered out of the room, _Oh god, oh god, no,_ I could feel tears roll down my cheeks. I ran into my bedroom, and locked the door to catch my breath. I slid down to the ground, trying to get a hold of myself. _Calm down, calm down this can't be real _

I looked around me, only noticing now that the room was soaked in grey. I didn't want to get up, nor did I want to check if Light was lingering back at the hall. Everything's fine—_wait _no

Something was behind me. It wasn't Light. It was someone else.

I didn't know how I knew, but I just knew it. It wasn't breathing down my neck, nor did it cast a shadow on the floor. But I knew something was there. _Don't look, don't look back_ I screamed inside. I choked back a whimper. It was silent. It was too silent, so I strained my ears to hear something, anything. And just when I thought there was nothing, I heard it.

Something I haven't heard in four years.

My name.

* * *

_"Sayu, Sayu!"_

Someone was shaking my shoulders, I think—I grimaced, the lights burned my eyes. I squinted and tried to sit up. As my vision began to focus, I could see Light looking worriedly at me, checking if anything was wrong. What was he doing here? "Sayu, are you okay? You were whimpering in your sleep—did you have a nightmare?" His eyebrows scrunched in concern.

Light brushed my bangs away, putting a hand on my forehead. I glanced behind him and oh, right—I was too young to sleep by myself so I was temporarily sleeping in his room. "What time is it?" My words slurred in drowsiness. Light glanced at the clock, "Two in the morning… Do you want me to get you some water?"

I shook my head, "No, it's okay."

He sat down next to me on my bed, quiet at first. Then he watched me at the corner of his eye, "Nightmares huh?"

"… Yeah," I answered truthfully.

"Want to talk about it?" Light asked. His side of his eyes crinkle when he smiles, just like mom. That's how I usually differentiate his fake smiles from his real ones. I stayed quiet for a while before finally responding, "I dreamt of a killer."

"A killer…?" He inquired,

"Yeah, he was mad because I found out his secret… so I ran." My hands were still clammy from cold sweat. I could still remember his eyes; the lilt of his voice when he spoke my name. I shivered slightly.

Light bit the bottom of his lip, "What's the secret…?" There was a pause. "Sayu?" I buried my face on my blanket, "Nothing… It's nothing." I wasn't sure if I was telling Light that or to myself. But the next thing I knew, I felt his small arms wrap around my shoulder.

"Well then," He started, pulling me close to put his chin on my head. "Why don't we give a happy ending for that little nightmare of yours?" I looked up to see his comforting smile. A stark contrast to the Light I saw in my dream. I found myself humming in agreement.

"How about this—maybe your big brother Light could fend him off! With a light saber!"

"Pfft," I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing. I shook my head and scolded him lightly, "Noo, that wouldn't work…" Light grinned down at me, "Why not? It's my duty to protect you." I would have said it was cheesy but I couldn't bring myself to say it. In fact, I felt grateful—even if he was still a six-year old. I tried to imagine Light confronting Kira. I wonder how that would've turned out.

"I guess it's okay…" I said quietly, "But I wanna stop him too."

"We can stop him together," He murmured sleepily, "Sounds good?"

"Sounds good," I nodded.

We stayed like that for a few minutes.

"…Light?"

"Mm?"

I hesitated, feeling a little embarrassed. "If you have nightmares too, you should tell me… so we can fight them off together." I know I sounded silly, but it just felt like the right thing to say. Light didn't say anything at first but finally answered, "Okay." We lapsed into comfortable silence.

I gradually fell asleep under Light's even breathing. In the end, he removed himself off me and tucked me back in.

Light went back to his bed.

My dreams however, stayed.

* * *

Haha, Sayu and Yasu. That's nice. My brain farted at the end of this chapter. Anyway, I think he would probably start acting more like 'Light' when he gets to middle school. Elementary seems a little too young for him to act like the distant, perfect son we usually see. And who was that man? What was up with that dream?

This chapter took a lot longer than I thought. I think I'll do three more chapters before the death note finally lands at Daikoku Private Academy. Don't worry, I'll feature some canon characters to spice things up.


	3. Routine

I am so, so sorry for the wait! I'm not abandoning this story yet I think—but I do have a lot of ideas regarding this story. I've been busy with real life crap. Mostly thesis related things for college, plus I had to apply for an internship so I can practice on the job.

Elementary, middle school, and junior high is a long way to go, and I need to go through them all to achieve character development for Sayu. She may think she's on her way to the goal, but it's a lot harder than it appears to be. So bear with me, please. Also, I decided to give her a nice little friend instead of bombarding you guys with multiple OCs that'll just confuse you. I'm trying to make Yasu as adequate as possible.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Death Note. But I do own the fictional elementary, and its occupants.

* * *

You know those nights where you have nightmares about the scariest things, but then when you wake up it isn't as scary as you first thought? That is probably the most accurate thing that could describe what I've been having over the past year. My dreams don't happen that often, probably once every three weeks, but it's always about the same thing. I'd walk around in a colourless world and it always ends with me running for my life because of something that's been following me, and that something knew my name.

Light was still concerned over my frequent nightmares, and had offered me to sleep with him on his bed. Although it did get me to stop thrashing around, it wasn't very effective. I don't know why I couldn't just stop and turn around in my dreams. Was it really that scary?

But other than that, things have been slow and well. Kindergarten was as fruitful as it could ever be with all its playing, and dancing. It wasn't required for all toddlers to attend Kindergarten, but it was good for socialising, and practicing our growing vocabulary. I was fine with hanging out with Yasu. He was the only mature kid around who I can actually strike a conversation with that doesn't last around two minutes. And he even brought his English storybooks to school. Never have I thought I would miss the story of The Giving Tree.

Lots of the kids were already leaving Kindergarten since it was mandatory for kids to go to Elementary at the age of six. So when I finally left those morning routines a year earlier than I expected, I literally fist pumped in the air the moment I left the gates. Mom had found out that I was actually more progressive than most of the children, and had prompted dad to try and get me in elementary early.

"Dear, I think it's best to start at an early age…" Mom said one morning, "It's only right we let her, she's been doing well."

Light had already left early since he had duties as the class monitor. Dad was sifting through the newspaper, only glancing down to retrieve his coffee from the table. A frown had marred his face, "Sachiko, as much as I want Sayu to start early, we can't just let her in. She's only five."

"Yes but-"

"They're not going to accept her unless she's six," His eyes were still skimming the first paragraphs of each article, "Light was also smart for his age, but he started elementary at the required age like the rest of the children."

"Yasu said there are kids who got in at five," I piped up, "But mostly 'cause they were going to be six at the same school year." I'd rather go to a real school than stay one more year singing about my head, toes, and feet.

Dad swayed awkwardly as I shook his arms. I don't know if it was because I was five, or I as just that desperate to get into elementary but it just came to me unconsciously. His glasses slipped down from his nose, as he looked at us exasperatedly. Mom and I stood side by side; her giving a pleading look, and me giving my most ridiculous smile.

Both of our hands were clasped together—slowly, his frown twitched into a somewhat smile. Dad eventually sighed and folded his newspaper, "Fine, we'll try it out… but if they say no, that's the end of it all right?" He added in haste. I whooped in triumph, while mom kissed him on the cheek in gratitude. "You seem too attached to Tsukuda. Do you have any other friends? I've only seen him come to our house."

Yasu, as I've said before, was probably the only kid that can actually hold a long conversation with _and_ he knew English. He can be annoying when his dry humour was directed at you but it's very refreshing to a see such wit from a six year old. You would be surprised to know that other than science, he was quite the fan of Super Sentai. He knew all the poses, and episodes. It was a little sad that he never got that many friends because of his thin and gangly build. So now I took him under my wing.

At one point, I invited him over at my house just to see what would my family think if they heard his slapstick humour, but to my surprise he kept a straight face all out, and spoke politely. It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen. Kind of a pity he was never shown in the anime or manga—he would have fought a good battle with Ryuk for comic relief.

I actually thought Light of all people would appreciate the street smarts of my little Kindergarten friend. Instead, he lectured me to do my homework (which was to draw something I treasure the most; come on, I could do that under five minutes!) rather than playing as a villain by the staircase. It sort of happened like this:

"Super Sentai Blue," I hissed darkly, "You will never stop me from taking over the world. Now prepare; to face true evil." Although I could have made a better speech in English, I watched a few episodes enough to catch some quotes. I knew I was too old for this but I was having fun—and I was _five_, it was a perfect excuse to do things like this. I didn't know much about reincarnation but as far as I knew, not many people lived twice.

"I won't let that happen. As long as there is good, there will be… _justice!_" Yasu posed. I could've sworn I saw his glasses shine.

"Sayu," I turned to see Light poking his head out of the door. He looked irritated, "Please keep it down, I'm trying to do my homework…" Mom was at the grocery store, while dad was at work so we were the only three left in the house. If mom were here, she would have scolded us to keep it down too. Light was still a kid though, so I offered him a position.

I stretched out my hand arrogantly, "Ah, brother. Good of you to join me. Come, come to the dark side."

"Or join justice," Yasu raised his hand.

There was an stubborn pause as Light stared at us like we were nitwits. Light didn't look too pleased. "Sayu, I heard from mom you were supposed to do your homework?" I nodded. "Have you finished it?" I shook my head.

He opened the door, and crossed his arms. "And when will you have time to finish? It's almost five in the evening, Sayu." I could almost hear the 'big brother' voice dripping all over those sentences. Siblings can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

"I'll finish it in time. Right now I'm playing with Yasu." I answered. Light glanced at Yasu in annoyance as if _he_ was the reason for the dilemma. There was some sort of awkward staring contest between the two of them; Light with determination in his eyes, and Yasu's reflected child-like nonchalance. "… Just do your homework, Sayu." He finally said, shutting the door behind him.

There was an astonished silence between the two of us. I turned to Yasu who spoke up in English, "Who wedged a stick up _his_ butt?" Having a father who was an English translator for multiple novels, it was bound to influence his language.

* * *

I had to wear an adorable, little prim and proper dress on our way to the elementary. Dad had to go to the police station early so he instructed mom on what to do, and where to go. "I'll be driving you two to the public school, and just walk your way home. Do you have the documents?" Dad asked, reading through the papers that were neatly stacked in a brown envelope.

After checking if everything is in place, he turned to me with a small smile. "Sayu, be a good girl, alright?"

I nodded absentmindedly. I was sort of busy pondering over what Light would think if he knew I was going to elementary at the age of 5. Yeah, that'd be great. I can one-up him a bit (although that would definitely be impossible later on, my ego as an adult was still at stake here).

Most elementary schools were public in Japan, and there were only a small amount of private schools since they were so costly. I was a little surprised to hear that Light wasn't a pure-bred private school student. I was going to be in the same public elementary as him—though I doubt I'd see him much since he'd be two grades higher than me (that is, _if_ I get into elementary).

"Are you sure your child can take the curriculum at hand? It says here that she's only five." said the man who I figured was the principal of the school. He leaned forward, facing my mom in slight worry. "I can understand that your son, Yagami Light, is very skilled in every academic subject so far. In fact, he is by far one of the first few students we've had in a while that achieved such grades…!" He paused in the middle of his praise, as if remembering what this meeting was all about. "Do you think she has the potential to do that as well?"

_Aw crap, when he puts it that way, I'm not so sure anymore..._ I awkwardly averted my gaze to the side and let my mom handle it.

"Well, we've received lots of positive remarks from her teachers in kindergarten." Sachiko smiled, "My husband and I were happy to hear that from the start of the first semester, Sayu had already read through the children books with ease."

That's only because there wasn't any kanji on it, and Light helped me with some of the words.

The principle nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to me. "Well Sayu, is there anything you'd like to say?"

Was this a test— because if it was, I will definitely ace it just to get out of Kindergarten.

"I'd like to learn," I answered, "and I'm positive that your elementary will give me the opportunity to sharpen my skills." … Okay, I didn't really say that but it was close enough. With my awful lack of vocabulary, I did my best to give a good response. So I told him I'd do my best, and I'd like to learn more from his school. He seemed fairly pleased with my answer and told my mom he'll look forward to see me the next school year. I couldn't take off my grin on our way back, but that didn't really matter.

I was looking forward to see Light and dad's face when they hear the news.

"Sayu's in elementary now?" Light looked up from his bowl of boiled vegetables (always the good boy) in surprise. I nodded, digging into my meat and potato stew. "She's always been so attached to her big brother, so it's only natural she'd follow your footsteps, Light!" Mom smiled, putting a hand on her cheek. "I went up to Light's room to check on them once and found them sleeping together. It was adorable, Soichirou!"

_Oh for fuck's sake! _What is up with this big brother complex?!

I scowled, stabbing one of my potatoes.

"It's only one time, mom. She was just having a bad dream." Light pointed out. Knowing him, he probably thought I was upset over being found out about the whole sharing-beds thing. Both of our parents didn't know anything about my on-going nightmares so it was nice to know that he didn't tell them. It'd only be a hassle if they'd fret over it. At first, Light wanted to tell them; it took a lot of persuasion to keep his mouth shut, but he eventually resigned. "Don't pout in front of your food, Sayu." A ghostly smirk made its way to his lips.

What._ No, I did not pout. I'm too old for that. I have baby fat on my cheeks. _Ignoring him, I proceeded to stuff myself with rice. Light laughed, and to my irritation, mussed up my hair.

"In any case, I'm proud to see both of you in Elementary." Dad said, "Education is just as important as discipline—make sure to listen to your teachers, Sayu. It's going to be a lot different from Kindergarten, do you understand?"

"Yes," I replied with my mouth full.

Mom gave me a reprimanding look, "Sayu, swallow your food!"

I bared my teeth, full of rice stuck in between. God, it felt good to be young again.

* * *

Elementary was the start of the academic subjects: maths, social studies, science, and of course, the Japanese language. Maths was easy—I didn't need to read the instructions to understand what we were going to do. I wasn't exactly a math wizard when I was young, so it was amazing to actually breeze through my maths test (let's forget for a moment that this test is for first graders, please). It was hard not to pass with flying colours when the questions were only about writing the numbers in their Japanese, and Arabic form. I don't think I'd have to worry about the addition and subtraction either, since I've done my fair share of equations during my time as part of the production crew (budgets).

"Roll call." Our homeroom teacher called out. "Abe, Shuichi… Agawa, Meiko… Akagai, Bunta…"

"Nice to see you got in." Yasu casually turned to me.

I snorted, "Told you I'd get in."

The harder ones were … the rest. Everything else was in _Japanese_. I actually thought they'd bring English to the curriculum but apparently, I'd have to wait until Junior High. By then, students would be around thirteen! I was already having a tough time with Japanese. I couldn't even read anything other than Hiragana, Katakana, and about ten Kanji characters (writing them was another thing entirely). It was a little humiliating learning the language with singing six year old kids, but I just had to suck it up and learn. _I'll have to buy some books if I want to get better;_ I took a mental note to speak to mom later that night. Light was already building up a library in his room with his newly installed shelf.

"Yagami, Sayu?"

I looked up, taking in the questioning look of our homeroom teacher. _I guess he knew Light then._

"Here." I said, raising my hand slightly.

Light, as it turned out, was indeed quite popular around school. It wasn't as if he had a raging fan club (not yet anyway)—girls in Elementary were still at the stage where they didn't mingle with boys because they're icky, and boys who think girls have cooties. For Light though, he was popular to both boys and girls. He would always take the role of class monitor, inform the teachers about anyone who might have gotten bullied (he'd always know, for some reason), and help out fellow classmates with their homework. He was both praised by the teachers, and loved by the students.

_How the heck did he get the ticket to winning at life?_ I asked myself one afternoon while watching people crowd around his figure. They were doing some sort of physical test where children were timed to run at a certain point of distance. First and second graders had an earlier lunch than the rest of the elementary students so after finishing our lunch sets, Yasu and I walked around the building to pass time. Our classrooms were at the first floor so it was easy to go back before class starts. Yasu was sipping on his milk box (since they had no apple juice, much to his dismay) while he watched Light run on the count of three.

"I'm willing to bet your brother's an alien." He mused.

"What?" I turned to him incredulously,

"I mean he's got light brown hair. Your parents don't have light brown hair. Plus he's good at everything." He said it so bluntly, it took me a while to get myself to reply. Now that he mentioned it—how does genetics even work around here? Soichirou and Sachiko were both dark-haired, and they didn't have the same shade of eye colour as Light's. I did think about it a few years back, but I dismissed it as something to do with living in an anime. But I'm not living in an anime. I knew that all too well. My hands weren't covered in black outlines—so where the heck did Light get his genes?

_Bloody hell! What I'm more worried about is that no one ever brought it up, not even L._

Finally finding my voice, I replied, "You… actually make a good point there."

"_Yeah_, chew on that while I go get a new milk box." He sniffed, throwing an empty carton to the trash can and shuffled back to the classroom.

I looked back at the track field in front of me, and pondered over the subject a few more minutes. What I didn't notice was that Light had somehow gotten away from the crowd and jogged over to where I was. His turn was finished so he was free to do what he pleased. "Sayu!" Light called. He walked over to me, and somewhere along the way, I noticed how he wasn't sweating. _Forget about the ticket to winning life, this kid's got the V.I.P. pass!_

"Is your lunch time almost over? You should be in your classroom…" He inquired,

"Yeah, but I finished early so I walked around. Teacher said it's okay as long as we're near the classroom. " I explained. I stared at him for a short while, admiring at how he looked nothing like someone who was being crowded around by sweaty kids a few moments ago. I had to hand it to him—I'm pretty proud to call him my brother after seeing that. I promptly told him what I thought.

A tinge of pink dusted over his cheeks; he actually had the gall to look embarrassed! My eyebrows shot up in amusement as he tried to nullify things by praising things about _me_. I paid little mind to it since I was too busy watching how uncharacteristic he was acting. He kept breaking the image of the cool, and calm Light I once read long ago. I didn't know why he made it seem like a big deal—he probably encountered praises from left to right. It was definitely a memory to keep.

"So are we still gonna buy groceries later for mom?" I asked,

His smile dropped a little, "Ah, about that…" Light was cut off by a call from his teacher. His eyes darted from me to his teacher, and quickly explained. "Sayu, I'm sorry- I have to stay and help out after school. I'll leave the shopping list to your homeroom teacher. Mr. Yamamoto, right?"

"Oh… okay," _…Was it okay for someone at my (physical) age to buy groceries? _

As if seeing my concern, he handed me the money. "Don't worry about it. It's only some seasonings." It must have been a culture thing because I don't think I've seen anyone in England ask their kids to go grocery shopping all alone—in London, anyway. As soon as he said his goodbye, he returned to the rest of his classmates. I threw away my milk carton, and proceeded to head back to my own classroom.

* * *

_Cayenne pepper, tonkatsu sauce, ah—there it is,_ I took both of the materials and dumped it in the shopping basket. Shopping like this brought back some old memories of my past life. I remember buying myself some instant noodles, a Cornetto, and some energy drinks. Those were the good old days. I had a resigned smile as I walked down the aisle on my way to the check-out counter. I still had some spare change so I bought myself some store-bought pudding.

_I have an inkling suspicion Light did that to get rid of his guilt,_ I shrugged. More food for me.

"Next," said the man behind the counter. I heaved the basket up, much to the employee's amusement. He looked like a part-time student from a university. He smiled a little, "First time grocery shopping, kid?" Pft. Yeah, in a five year old body. I nodded, sliding the money on the counter. It was a hefty bill which made the man scrunch his nose. The man bellowed to the 'Employees Only' door to his right, "Hey Matsuda! Can you get the spare change in the money box?"

There was a muffled crash behind the door, "_Ack!—_ Right, coming!"

_Matsuda?_ I blinked.

A young man wearing a typical public high school uniform struggled through the boxes and made his way out of the room. He held a green money box in one hand, and some scotch tape at the other. His hair was slightly messy from his earlier stunt. With a sheepish smile, he passed the box to his colleague. "Sorry 'bout that, Taka! I got it here!"

"Matsuda, you should really watch where you're going…" Taka scowled, opening the box with a key to retrieve a fresh wad of bills. He flipped through to find the exact amount of change to me. My attention was caught after seeing the name tag on the other employee's shirt. _'Matsuda Touta' _was written in hiragana underneath the kanji. _Holy shit-he's so young! _It looked like him… That was him wasn't it?!

"Matsuda!" I spluttered in excitement.

* * *

Oh my god, I don't want to look back on what I just wrote. I can't bring myself to do it. I'm cutting it 'cause it'll get too long again!

Will New!Sayu be as smart as Light? Haha, no. As if that would happen. No matter how much she knows about the story, she isn't as brilliant as Light or L. She's an ordinary human being, but she has some tricks up her sleeves. And she's determined. Even if she's an adult in mind, Sayu won't be number one in her school. But she's doing what she can to keep her grades up as long as she has a reason to do so.


End file.
